At least 21 dead as bus, truck crash in Brazil

A head-on collision between a bus and a truck killed at least 21 people on Wednesday in the municipality of Imbituva in southern Brazil, local officials said.

Images in the local press showed a bus with a sign for people with disabilities smashed to pieces next to a truck.

"Unfortunately, 21 passengers on the bus have died" and four people were injured, said Via Araucaria, the company that operates several highways in Parana state, where Imbituva is located.

The accident occurred on a highway connecting the southern part of the country with Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state.

According to local media, the passenger vehicle was transporting patients to various medical centers.

Authorities have not provided any information about the truck's occupants.

Fatal traffic accidents are common in Brazil.

Eight people died on Sunday in the state of Rio de Janeiro when the bus they were traveling in overturned.

In February, a bus returning from a religious festival in northeastern Brazil veered off the road and overturned, killing at least 16 people.